Do people in Lincoln know more about Omaha or vice versa?

[BN1]

Longtime Omaha resident. I feel like I barely know anything about happenings or developments in Lincoln besides Cornhusker sports. I rely heavily on mapping apps to get around down there, even though I have been there dozens of time. Seems strange to know so little about a good sized community just 1 hour away.

[Louie]

Longtime Omaha resident. I feel like I barely know anything about happenings or developments in Lincoln besides Cornhusker sports. I rely heavily on mapping apps to get around down there, even though I have been there dozens of time. Seems strange to know so little about a good sized community just 1 hour away.

I lived there for 5 years when I was in school and was very familiar with pretty much the whole city, but I probably only spend time there once or twice a year nowadays.

[Busguy2010]

Longtime Omaha resident. I feel like I barely know anything about happenings or developments in Lincoln besides Cornhusker sports. I rely heavily on mapping apps to get around down there, even though I have been there dozens of time. Seems strange to know so little about a good sized community just 1 hour away.

You can put me in that bucket too.

I've been there a handful of times. Its not somewhere I go every year by any stretch. My general sense of it, is from the railyard downtown, the city fans out to the east. Geographically, I'd say O street is like our Dodge street. Their urban limit seems to me to kind of end around 48th street, before the suburban culture takes hold. Whereas ours is 72nd.

27th & Vine is where I spent most of any of the time I spent down there. Cool how the stadium looks like a mothership from that vantage point, and believe me, on any given Saturday it is. I have an old friend that lived near that intersection, and back in the times Husker football was good, he'd host watch parties, and its so cool to watch a game on TV, have the windows open on a cool fall day, and hear the stadium erupt, and shortly after, seeing what happened.

Aside from that, drop me a general intersection, and I *might* be able to find it today. The north/south number streets progress to the east, and if you know where O street is, the alphabet streets make that easy, though in both instances, they are the opposite of Omaha. Aside from that, give me a specific intersection, I'd never find it.

But im with ya, ot does seem funny to have a big city that close down the road, and have it feel like a different world.

[nebugeater]

IF you live in one and are not familiar with the other, either way, when they are only 50 or so miles apart, that is on you.

[Busguy2010]

I dont have a reason to go there nowadays. I had a few friends down there for school, but since then, hadn't had a reason. I do have some fond memories, especially from 2009 to about 2014. I don't believe I've done anything there since, but pass through on the highway.

Lol, it was just like that all my friends finished school, and the Huskers started to suck at the same time. Haven't been back since.

[skinzfan23]

Outside of the past 7-8 years when I have gone to a husker football game I have lived in the metro for 42 years and only been to Lincoln prob 2-3 times. Lincoln is tough, without having kids in college yet, and most of my family from WI and eastern IA, there just isn’t a reason to visit Lincoln. I’ve thought about going to the children’s zoo but outside of that or the university, there isn’t anything special there that I couldn’t do in Omaha.

[Bob from Omaha]

On one hand I get that Omaha people tend to see Lincoln as I guess a kind of suburb of Omaha with some ignorance other than football.

On the other if you haven't seen the State Capitol, the sunken gardens, the Children's Zoo, walked around downtown, Pioneer's Park, the Museum of American Speed, the Sheldon Art Gallery, Pinewood Bowl, and so many other Lincoln faves, you're missing out. Lincoln is not a suburb of Omaha and it has a lot to offer. In college and beyond I loved Lee's Chicken, Mistys, Tony & Luigi's, and so many more and the bars downtown were great.

For what it's worth, check out Seward on July 4th, Ash Fall State Park, pretty much the entire northeast corner of Nebraska, the Sandhill cranes around Grand Island, the Panhandle, Ogallala, North Platte and the rest of the state. There are outstanding B & Bs all over the state. The people are amazingly friendly and welcoming. Get out of your Omaha comfort zone. Nebraska has a seriously diverse topography.

A lot of Nebraskans outside of Omaha have preconceived notions about Omaha. Some are barely tolerant of the fact that Omaha is part of the state. It's too big, too much traffic, scary, etc.

I may have left Nebraska 17 years ago but after my wife & I got married (She's from Detroit & had never been to Nebraska before we met), we drove all over Nebraska on relatively short driving trips. She liked Nebraska & in the 12 years she lived there she made a lot of friends she still keeps in touch with.

Anyway, if you're from Omaha spend some time in Lincoln like a tourist. It's a very nice place & lots to see. I don't know if Brad has spent much time there with his camera but there are killer shots there.

[Busguy2010]

Now that I think more of it, I've probably been there a fair number more than I was thinking. Was there a few times every fall for that time period of 2009-2014. Plus counting all the times as a kid of field trips, that I just barely remember. I’ve been in the Capitol building, the zoo, and a couple other historical attractions that I couldn't name. Roper Park is the main disc golf course we'd hit up, so my group would make a day out of disc golfing, Husker Football, drinking beer, grilling, fires, and backyard antics. I do miss those times, and having a reason to go there.

One saying I always said is "the grass is greener in Lincoln", both literally and figuratively. Don't know if its just my experience, but I noted that people took good care of their property, moreso than Omaha. The air seemed cleaner, and the sky seemed bluer. Lincoln doesnt have any really ghetto neighborhoods, or whatever ones they do have are nothing compared to here. Granted, its been 10 years, so I dont know if its still that way.

I do have a fondness for it, probably because its even more of a big, small town like Omaha (actually Omaha is getting a little more populated than my liking, but its home). Nowadays, there's really nothing you can or cannot do in either Lincoln or Omaha, beyond the usual events, on a daily basis, so I just stick around here.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I feel I know Lincoln about as well as I know Omaha. I was born and raised in Omaha, but both my parents are from Lincoln, so my visits had been frequent growing up. On top of that, my wife’s brother, a native Missourian, married someone from Nebraska as well and they’ve settled in Lincoln. So I continue to visit Lincoln multiple times per year and about much as I visit Omaha these days.

[Greg S]

I went to college there in the 80's and have a sister that lives on the south side. Most of my trips recently are for football (I have season tickets), basketball when I can make it, or when the high school hockey team I coach players down there. I mostly end up downtown or the Haymarket. I absolutely love all the growth in the Haymarket.

Lincoln is a great and growing city. Love all the housing that has sprung up downtown along with all of their continued hotel growth DT.

Lincoln has just fantastic parks. Pioneers and Wilderness are fantastic. Holmes is really good. Love the Sunken Gardens. When my kids were younger we went to Lincoln alot for the parks, Children's Zoo, Children's Museum, and of course Morril Hall.

I have started getting to more of Lincoln when I have time. Was blown away last year how well Gateway Mall is doing. I also now try and get to Taco Inn when I am down there.

Will be seeing a lot more of Lincoln starting tomorrow as we move my youngest into Abel Hall. He's actually on the same floor I was 40 years ago.

Greg

[Linkin5]

Born and raised in Lincoln. Lived in Omaha for 8 years after college. Just talking to people over the years I would say people from Lincoln are much more familiar with Omaha than Omaha residents familiar with Lincoln.

[Bob from Omaha]

I was in Ann Arbor today. Home of the University of Michigan. Some observations:

First and foremost. As flat as Lincoln is it seems that Ann Arbor is just one big hill. Seriously.

Ann Arbor is a big college town. Not the state capital. That's Lansing. It has a college town vibe. It also has the University of Michigan Hospital System. The hospitals are enormous. Well thought of but our experience with our daughter (about half a year) wasn't that great. We ended up back in metro Detroit. Anyway, downtown is veeery college townish. Bars, restaurants, etc. all have somewhat of a hip vibe. With over 50,000 U of M students and a ton of staff it's no wonder.

The bottom line to me is that Ann Arbor is ok but I wasn't blown away by it. Yeah, I saw the football stadium and yeah it seats 110,000. It's not right next to the campus but a relatively short walk. It's next to the basketball arena. It's not by downtown like Memorial Stadium. I like the Lincoln arrangement with the arena and stadium much better being next to the campus and downtown.

Like I said. Ann Arbor is ok. The hills are killer tho. Oh, and Ann Arbor is about a half hour or 40 minutes to Detroit airport so AA doesn't even bother with an airport.

[GenX]

Lincoln is what people who have never been to Nebraska assume Omaha is like. So many people who come Omaha for the first time are completely blown away by its size, restaurant selection and entertainment options.

Having lived in both Omaha and Lincoln, I feel the two are completely different. Lincoln is great if you’re college age, a state/university employee or are a retiree. If you’re more middle aged, it’s incredibly boring, especially if you live anywhere outside the core downtown area. The dating pool in that age range is rather small. Food choices was the most stark difference. Omaha had everything while Lincoln has a much smaller range of options, and most restaurants are clumped together in one of four places: Downtown, N 27th, S 27th and 84th & old Hwy 2. I feel that Omaha caters to all age groups and demographics.

These were just my observations. Lincoln wasn’t a good place for me, so I probably have a little bias. Take it with a grain of salt.

[nebugeater]

Lincoln is what people who have never been to Nebraska assume Omaha is like. So many people who come Omaha for the first time are completely blown away by its size, restaurant selection and entertainment options.

Having lived in both Omaha and Lincoln, I feel the two are completely different. Lincoln is great if you’re college age, a state/university employee or are a retiree. If you’re more middle aged, it’s incredibly boring, especially if you live anywhere outside the core downtown area. The dating pool in that age range is rather small. Food choices was the most stark difference. Omaha had everything while Lincoln has a much smaller range of options, and most restaurants are clumped together in one of four places: Downtown, N 27th, S 27th and 84th & old Hwy 2. I feel that Omaha caters to all age groups and demographics.

These were just my observations. Lincoln wasn’t a good place for me, so I probably have a little bias. Take it with a grain of salt.

But Lincoln does have Honest Abe's Burgers!

[stormchaser]

I lived in Lincoln for about a year before moving to Omaha in 2015. In my experience, at least some of the people who live in Lincoln have no idea how much bigger of a city Omaha is. They know it's a bigger city but they think ~300,000 vs ~450,000 people - fairly close in size. They fail to factor in the actual size of the metros not just the core city (similar to Minneapolis, some people think Omaha is bigger which LOL). Also, I heard several indicate rush hour in both cities was basically the same thing which IMO, isn't REMOTELY true. That said, my time there was relatively short so no idea how common the things I ran across actually are but that was my experience anyway.

[BuildTaller]

Food choices was the most stark difference. Omaha had everything while Lincoln has a much smaller range of options

I've driven to Lincoln many times for food options that did not exist in Omaha. Omaha is catching up even though Lincoln has lost a few. No more Sichuan food.

[Bob from Omaha]

I don't know about now but when Valentino's just had the one location at 33rd & Holdrege it was amazing. By the time we moved in 2008 I couldn't go to Vals. It was greasy & just gross. But in the 70s when I was in high school we used to drive down once a week just for Vals.

[Renovator2559]

Whenever I visit Lincoln, I love the fact that Lincoln has this frontier vibe like Omaha. I see parallels on what makes the Old Market and the Haymarket so charming and historical. The Lincoln train station in the Haymarket is a historical nod to rail history.

The Mill coffee in Lincoln, has such a nice rustic vibe!

The souls of Omaha and Lincoln are compatible; eventually in the distant future when they merge as one metro, they will be compatible.
They already are in stats and how highly Omaha and Lincoln tend to rank.